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Interviews

Ann K. Nakamura

Sansei from Hawaii living in Japan. Teacher and businesswoman.

Image of Americans

Their image of an American was Caucasian or non-Asian. So to meet an Asian American, especially a Japanese American, for them was…where do you categorize? How do you fit this person in into their idea? So I probably have changed that idea for a lot of people who have met me. But it also made me aware of being both – that I’m neither one nor the other. I am both. And so for many Japanese, they go, “Oh, does that mean your mother is American?” I said, “No, my father is American, too.” That kind of throws them. “But you have a Japanese name.” I said, “Yes, because my father and my mother are ethnically Japanese, but their nationality is American. They were born and raised in America.” So that sort of opens a lot of conversation. It has also made me aware of, in some ways, how Western I am, as opposed to Japanese. But, at the same time, I guess growing up in Hawaii, being both was not unusual. You study Japanese, you practice certain Japanese customs – that was not unusual. But for a Japanese here, it’s unusual. It’s like, “How do you do both?” And it’s not doing both, it just naturally occurs. So at one time, it’s like the students or even the teachers would say, “So, which side of your family…does that make you half?” I said, “No, it doesn’t make me half. I’m 100 percent American because that’s my nationality. But I’m also 100 percent Japanese because all my grandparents originally came from Japan. So I’m not half as much as I’m maybe 200 percent.” And so for them, it’s like a whole different concept.


Finding Home (film) Hawai'i identity United States

Date: November 8, 2003

Location: Tokushima, Japan

Interviewer: Art Nomura

Contributed by: Art Nomura, Finding Home.

Interviewee Bio

Ann Nakamura, a Sansei in her mid-forties who grew up in Hawai`i, is a single woman whose career in education and a business partnership with a Japanese man represent a unique situation. She observes that more Japanese women are delaying marriage or remaining single, and in either case are becoming professionals. This development has led to greater acceptance of her status as a single female professional. In the past, a woman teacher could continue to work after marriage, but women in business who got married were expected to end their vocation. Ann says she is not looked upon as a “role model” necessarily, but she is seen as someone who legitimates non-traditional options in society.

When growing up in Hawaii, Ann experienced a “conflict” between Western and Asian values and behavior and has been able to reconcile this in Japan. She would like to return to Hawaii where her family is, but to also continue to maintain her business in Japan. She had not expected to stay as long as she has in Japan (approximately 15 years). There are now more foreigners in Japan than ever before and more acceptance of “gaijin.” Ann first obtained a Nikkei Visa and then transitioned into her current status of permanent residency. (November 8, 2003)

Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki
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Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki

Grandmother's influence on decision to go to Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

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Masakatsu Jaime Ashimine Oshiro
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Masakatsu Jaime Ashimine Oshiro

A Possible Path towards Happiness… (Spanish)

(1958-2014) Former Bolivian Ambassador to Japan

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George Ariyoshi
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George Ariyoshi

Being fair

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

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Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi
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Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi

Working in the pineapple fields

Former First Lady of Hawai'i

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Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi
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Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi

Tree planting

Former First Lady of Hawai'i

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Masako Iino
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Masako Iino

What is Nikkei? (Japanese)

Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history

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Masako Iino
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Masako Iino

Learning from Nikkei (Japanese)

Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history

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James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Nickname

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Context affects meaning

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Steve Kaji
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Steve Kaji

FOB's

Hawaii born Nikkei living in Japan. English Teacher at YMCA.

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Prejudice in Japanese school (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Barbara Kawakami
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Barbara Kawakami

1920 labor strike

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Mike Shinoda
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Mike Shinoda

Connecting to Japan

(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist

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Barbara Kawakami
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Barbara Kawakami

Bombing of Pearl Harbor

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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